It's not part of the immediate focus for the Ireland squad, but shining at the Rugby World Cup in order to be considered for a British and Irish Lions call-up down the road can provide part of the motivation, says Scott Bemand.
The Ireland boss fielded a question about the progress of Ruth Campbell, the lock who will win her ninth cap in less than 12 months when she lines out against Japan tomorrow (12 noon, live on RTÉ) and wasn’t afraid to mention the young Kildare woman as a possible tourist when the Lions go to New Zealand in 2027.
That’s the trajectory that he feels the 22-year-old Leinster player is on.
The Ireland squad has numerous cross-over athletes, with former basketball, Gaelic football and soccer players in the panel.
Campbell, similar to injured back row Aoife Wafer, stands out as a 'rugby native'.
Her body language, gait and rugby nous can be explained by the fact she was playing the sport at the age of five at Naas RFC.
She later studied at King’s Hospital and Newbridge and has lined out for Barnhall MU and Old Belvedere.
Since making her senior Leinster debut and standing out in the 2023 Interpros, Campbell, who stands 5ft 9in, has gone from strength to strength.
Last September, she made her international bow in the 36-10 win over Australia and has been heavily involved since.
"Ruth is a brilliant story," Bemand told RTÉ Sport.
"When I first came over, the first game I attended was an Interpro fixture, I watched somebody that had innate physicality and, at that point, punching well above her weight.
"She’s been in the [IRFU’s] centralised programme for about a year and a large component of that is the athletic, physical development, the robustness to play the game she does.
"She’s made huge strides, with that element of edgy physicality.
"It’s a collision sport, everybody has to have someone in the team that even their team-mates are a bit wary of.
"Ruth’s been great. Behind the scenes she’s got this raw edge to her, and developing brilliantly, technically and tactically.
"Some of the things she can do in the lineout now, some of her athletic prowess within lineouts, she’s punching above her weight in scrums, she’s getting the ball, she’s defending."
Campbell’s progress flowed nicely alongside the resurgence of the women’s team from the lows of 2023 to WXV success and World Cup qualification.
"She’s a real story that resonates in the two years we’ve been in post of someone who’s come in young and raw and finds themselves in a starting shirt in a World Cup," added the head coach.
"I’m delighted for her, she’s fully earned her spot and it will be interesting to see what she can do in this competition, and even in the future.
"There’s things coming on the horizon in terms of Lions tours and whatever.
"It will be this kind of environment, this kind of competition where she comes alive and puts her hands up for things in the future."
Lining out alongside Campbell tomorrow will be Edel McMahon (above), the co-captain, who has overcome a knee injury which saw her miss the warm-up matches against Scotland and Canada.
The last thing Ireland could afford was another injured back-five player with Dorothy Wall, Erin King and Aoife Wafer all currently sidelined.
"I just had a knock during the Six Nations but the medical team planned out what it would look like post-Six Nations and over the summer," the 31-year-old flanker said.
"I was pretty confident I was in good hands and putting in the hard work in the HPC [high-performance centre]. I always knew how the rollout looked like so I was pretty happy how it was going.
"I was there or thereabouts [for the warm-ups] but obviously made the best decision to make sure I'm in the right place for this weekend.
"I’m really excited and buzzing to get going."
Watch Ireland v Japan in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday from 11.30am on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on 2fm.
